A promotional poster for Star Trek Into Darkness Photo: IC

 

Star Trek Into Darkness, the newest installment in the classic intergalactic franchise, blasted to the top of movie box-office charts with $70.6 million in weekend ticket sales at theaters in the US and Canada.

The new 3D voyage for Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise knocked mighty Iron Man 3 into second place, while the Marvel superhero sequel grabbed $35.2 million. Jazz Age drama The Great Gatsby finished third with $23.4 million, according to studio estimates.

Weekend ticket sales for Into Darkness failed to reach the level of 2009 movie Star Trek, which took in $75.2 million at US and Canadian theaters without a lift from higher 3D ticket prices.

However, its overall take from Wednesday through Sunday beat the 2009 numbers, with Into Darkness taking in $84.1 million. The 2009 installment took in $79.2 million for the same period, according to distributor Paramount.

Into Darkness, a $190 million production, opened late on Wednesday to grab a head start on the weekend. The take through Sunday was shy of the $100 million some box-office analysts projected. Paramount said the film's audience was comprised largely of longtime Star Trek fans, but was optimistic that good reviews and word of mouth would bring in a broader audience in coming weeks.

Paramount also expressed satisfaction with the film's performance abroad.

"To a large extent, the last film was uniquely a US and Canada event, but we're really pleased that the foreign sales are neck-and-neck with the domestic market," said Don Harris, president of domestic theatrical distribution at Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc.

The movie has rung up $80.5 million in international markets since opening outside North America on Thursday, Paramount said, for a combined global total of $164.5 million.

Into Darkness stars Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, the pointy-eared, human-Vulcan first officer.

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, best known as the detective Sherlock Holmes in the BBC drama Sherlock, plays a villain who launches an attack on Starfleet's base in London.